Improving the national minimum wage to a fair or "living" wage would have productivity benefits, researchers say.
Days out from Australia's annual minimum wage decision, Australian Catholic University and British researchers say minimum wages generate positive productivity effects and slash the number of working poor.
The findings are based on British data but also apply to Australia, the ACU's Professor Thomas Lange said.
Calls by the Australian trade union movement for improved minimum wages to counter the development of a working poor underclass were all too often greeted by industry and policy rebuttals, the Faculty of Law and Business associate dean of research said.
"If Australia's government is serious not just about an innovation boost, but also about fair treatment of low-paid workers with productivity-enhancing benefits, then the issue must be urgently revisited," Prof Lange said on Tuesday.
He said the analysis showed the introduction of the minimum wage in the UK led to productivity improvements across a variety of low-paying sectors.
Australia's Fair Work Commission will announce the annual rise in the national minimum wage in the coming days.
The ACTU wants a $30 a week increase while the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry wants it limited to $7.90 a week.
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